Death. Thinking about it scares me. What happens to you when you die? Do you disappear? Are you gone forever? Where do you go? It wasn’t until the summer of 2005 that I started to get some answers.

In June 2005 my Grandma died, and I began to ask my parents these questions. My Dad does not believe in heaven but he told me that if you remember the people that have passed on they will never truly be gone for good.

When I heard that my Grandma died, I decided not to be sad but to be happy for her. I pictured her with my Grandpa and her seeing her Mom and her Grandma again. I still remember when we made a blanket out of a pillowcase together. I remember nice thoughts when I look at it. And whenever I see a bowl of nuts, I remember her and how she always had a bowl of nuts out in her house.

I call what my Dad described as an afterlife. Egyptians believe that when they mummify you, you go to the after-life. But, after-life can mean anything; heaven, a spirit lingering, memories. Who cares what you call it. Call it what you want. As long as you love the person that is dead, their soul can live forever. So, death may not be as scary as one can think. This I Believe.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.